Everton manager David Moyes wants the club to bolster his squad in the transfer window as a sign of ambition that could persuade his star players to stay.

The uncertainty over the futures of key personnel at Goodison Park could, ultimately, also decide the future of Moyes, who has yet to agree a new contract.

Everton’s fine form this season has been overshadowed by financial limitations that have placed a question mark over Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines — and even Moyes.

Looking to bolster: David Moyes wants to add to his Everton squad this season

Chelsea and Arsenal are ready to meet Fellaini’s £22million buy-out clause, either this month or at the end of the season, while Baines’s form is attracting widespread attention. And Moyes has been linked with Schalke after admitting he could be tempted by a move to Germany’s Bundesliga.

Any anxiety over possible departures could be dispelled, though, if Everton can finally end their trophy drought with an FA Cup win that would bring them kudos as well as urgently needed cash.

Moyes would need to strengthen the squad to deliver on their early-season promise.

However, after generating more than £35million from the sale of seven players over the past 18 months, including Jack Rodwell, Louis Saha and Mikel Arteta, there are concerns in and around Goodison that the financial shackles are still in place.

Up in the air: Marouane Fellaini's future at Everton is uncertain

It is seen as a real hindrance to any hopes of nailing down a Champions League spot, but delivering the first trophy of Moyes’s 11-year reign may go some way towards convincing the likes of Fellaini they can achieve their ambitions at Goodison.

Leon Osman is convinced Everton are better equipped than ever to win the FA Cup, and that winning the trophy would be due reward for Moyes’s work since arriving from Preston.

‘The test will be sustaining our form over a whole season, because in the past, we’ve only managed it for one half or the other,’ said the Everton midfielder.

‘If we can keep our important players fit for long spells, then hopefully we should be able to.

‘The manager has been a fantastic servant to the club, and I would be disappointed if he was to leave. But you don’t always get what you deserve. You don’t just get to win a cup because you have done well and deserve it.

‘It is up to us as a group of players, with the manager and staff included, to turn something that is deserved into something tangible.

Will he stay or will he go? Leighton Baines has attracted interest from a number of top clubs

‘No one wanted to be rested for the Cheltenham game. We all want to play in every single game, and with one a week for the foreseeable future, there should not be any qualms about being tired or unfit.

‘It will be 10 years to the day since my Everton debut when we face Swansea on Saturday, and it would be great to mark that by making this the season we win a trophy.

‘We have had some good teams over the years, but, with the football we are playing at the moment and the games we are winning, I would have to say this is the best,’ Osman added.

‘We’ve got a bit of variety to our game. We pass, but we are happy to go direct as well and mix the game up.’